Core 4: Pilot Project Core

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Project Summary – Pilot Projects The goals of this Pilot Project Core of the VCU Alcohol Research Center are to: 1) manage the progress and quality control for our two designated initial pilot projects, 2) solicit and evaluate future pilot grant proposals to further expand the scientific breadth of VCU-ARC, 3) encourage pilot grant awardees to submit proposals for independent funding and 4) support training opportunities for students and postdoctoral fellows within laboratories of funded pilot projects. Drs. Bjork and Edwards are experts in motivational and internalizing factors that influence risk for human alcohol use disorders (AUDs) and will be the Lead and co-investigator of Pilot Project 1, entitled “The role of neurocognition in polygenic risk for alcohol use disorder and comorbidities”. They have proposed a novel study to integrate data on the neurocognitive performance of individuals with severe AUD and uncover the genetic relationships leading to AUD risk. Their pilot will interface with the longitudinal genetic studies proposed in Projects 4 and 5 (Dick and Webb) and may inform analyses in Core 3 (Bacanu). Furthermore, if successful, Pilot Project 1's work will provide solid preliminary data for future funding applications assessing the neurocognitive and genetic contributions to risk for AUD. The second targeted pilot will be conducted by Dr. Joel Schlosburg, an expert neuropharmacologist with expertise in drug and alcohol use disorders, and is entitled "Dissection of the acute and dependent responses to ethanol in rats lacking fatty acid amide hydrolase”. Pilot Project 2 will use a newly established FAAH knockout rat on an outbred background to test the role of FAAH on ethanol sensitivity, intake and preference. This pilot will expand the knowledge of the impact of potential future FAAH inhibitor development for use in clinical trials, with at least three separate such inhibitors in various phases and endpoints. These studies may also be the first to demonstrate whether NAPE-PLD is the primary synthetic enzyme supplying fatty acid amide substrates to FAAH. We will solicit other proposals in year 2 and fund the two best of them in years 3-4, then solicit proposals again in year 4 to fund one in year 5. The pilot program is an important component of the VCU-ARC that will enable us to attract new and innovative researchers to interact with Center investigators and expand high quality alcohol research at VCU.